5 Tips for Healthy Hips

Our hips are one of the most important joints in our body. They connect our torso to our legs and play a key role in our movement and our quality of life. Whether you are an athlete, dancer, teacher, or stay at home parent, the path to moving effortlessly without pain or discomfort often begins at the hips. The reason why so many of us struggle with hip issues is because our lifestyles can create massive imbalances in our body. Below are some of tips to help correct the imbalances that many of us experience.

1.       Stop over stretching your hip flexors

Muscles can feel tight without actually being tight. Stretching may provide temporary relief, but if you find that you are constantly needing to stretch, it is time to try something new and address the root of the problem.

Hip flexors can feel chronically tight if they are weak, overstretched, or even overworked due to an instability in the pelvis or spine. Weakness in the abdominals and the glutes can contribute to the problem by causing the hip flexors to overwork to protect & support the body. The abdominals play a crucial role in stabilizing the pelvis and if not strong, can contribute to having an anterior tilt, which puts the hip flexors in a shortened position.

Oftentimes there is more than one cause, which is why you must look at the body in its entirety instead of just treating the symptoms!

2.       Don’t be scared to work your hip flexors

Hip flexion is essential to everything we do, whether it is dancing, athletic performance, exercise, or daily activities. We need our hips to flex so that we can get down on the floor, walk, run, go up & down the stairs, or put our leg on the shower wall to shave. In order to do those movements well our hips need to be equally strong as they are mobile. Stretching isn’t bad, but when you don’t have the strength to support your range of motion, that is when you can experience pain & discomfort. The body needs balance between strength and mobility!

3.       Work your hip joints in all directions

The hip joint is classified as a ball and socket joint, which enables the leg to move in all directions – flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, internal rotation, external rotation, and circumduction.

Clam Shells (which work lateral rotation) get all the attention, but when is the last time you worked on internal rotation? The glutes get a lot of the attention for aesthetic reasons, but when is the last time you worked on strengthening your inner thighs (adductors)?

I find that internal rotation and adduction are two of the areas that clients struggle with the most. All of the muscles surrounding the hips need to be worked equally so that you are strong in all positions and will be prepared for everything that life throws at you.

4.       Take time to stretch the muscles of the back of the hip

The glutes and deep rotators of the hips get worked so much. From overdoing glute exercises in your workouts to always bearing the brunt of our daily movement, our hips require a well-rounded approach to keep our body happy and pain free. Having strong glutes & deep rotators is crucial for everything that we do so strengthening them is important. However, we need to make sure we don’t only emphasize working the muscles in the back of the hip, because if they get tight that can limit our range of motion and lead to issues down the line. Balance is key!

To stretch out the back of the hip, try the Figure 4 stretch (Left) or Pigeon stretch (right).

5.       Don’t push through if you are feeling pain, popping, or pinching

Many people ignore the popping & pinching that they feel and just continue to work through it. I know I did when I was dancing! Don’t learn the hard way! Take it from me, that will only make it worse and can lead to inflammation. It will be worth it to take a step back, fix the root of the problem, and then you won’t be nervous about moving for fear of pain. You won’t have to ignore those movements forever. Taking the time to reset and build proper support for your body will be well worth it!

Pilates can help you incorporate all of these tips into your life and workout routine. If you aren’t sure where to begin, I recommend you get started with the Introductory Special that you can find right HERE.

Credit: GIF’s are from spotebi.com